In recent years, as consumer awareness of environmentalism has increased, the use of paper bags has increased significantly, particularly for use as shopping bags (replacing plastic) or as “gift bags” (replacing wrapping paper). The bags are readily re-usable, being generally more durable than plastic, and recyclable. Furthermore, the exterior of the bag can be readily imprinted with a design, either decorative (for a gift bag) or with a company name or logo (for shopping bags).
Paper bags, in particular those used as shopping bags and gift bags, use glued bottoms to increase the amount of weight that can be supported. The typical fold pattern used has proven difficult to automate and to date has been limited at best to lightweight paper stock and small size products, such as sugar bags and similar items. Gift and shopping bags require more elaborate patterns and are not well-suited to mass production. Therefore, the majority of paper bags used as gift or shopping bags are made by hand labor to create a bag from heavy paper stock and sufficient size and strength to hold heavier products.
There is clearly a need for a method of assembling paper bags without the need to incorporate hand labor into the assembly process. Furthermore, any such process should be capable of producing a bag of size and strength comparable to the existing bags produced via hand labor.